It also forced most of Aleppo’s Christians, which made up 10 percent of the pre-war population, to flee.

There are only about 100,000 Christians left in Aleppo out of the 250,000 before the war, according to demographic expert Fabrice Balanche.

Almost all of them stayed in the government-held part of the city.

“We came back to the church three days ago, as soon as we found out that the military operations were nearing their end,” Bashir says.

He and the young boy scouts carefully set up figures for the nativity scene — the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph the carpenter are positioned next to a cow and a lamb, facing the wise men and a shepherd.

– ‘Broke our hearts’ –

An angel has been precariously fixed to the roof of the makeshift shed with some rope.

The red, green, and gold decorations appeared particularly bright amid the dull tones of destruction.

“I’m 24 years old, and I spent 20 years of my life here. We came every day, but we were deprived of our church these past four years,” says scout Tony Mardini, as he blows into his hands to keep them warm.

“During the war years, as soon as we heard rocket fire or an explosion, we came to check on the church and we’d see the damage get worse,” he says.

“We were sad — it broke our hearts.”

He and fellow scouts have mobilised quickly in recent days, using Facebook and Whatsapp to invite relatives and friends to Sunday’s Christmas service.

As he discusses his plans for his first Christmas in Saint Elias in five years, Mardini breaks out into a smile.